Muzeum Manggha – Japonia w Krakowie

The Manggha Museum, the only state institution popularising Japanese culture in Poland, combines museum work with projects typical for a modern cultural institution. In addition to quality of content and artistic form, attractive methods of communication are the primary criteria in devising our programmes of events. The methods developed by the Manggha Museum team enable us to produce insightful and multifaceted presentations of issues that are often very specialised, whether relating to old or modern Japan. Our major projects are accompanied by scholarly conferences and open lectures covering important topics in the political and social history, art history, everyday life, culture and customs of Japan and the Far East. Our Academy of Japanese Cinema is an ongoing project dating back several years. We offer excellent concerts in a wide range of genres, from traditional Asian music to contemporary jazz, classical compositions played by celebrated pianists, and alternative music performances. One of our assets is our special offer for children and young people as well as for the visually-impaired participants. For several years now, we have been preparing special educational exhibitions, featuring interactive playgrounds; our regular events dedicated to children include meetings with Japanese fairy tales, Sunday workshops and the annual Japanese Children’s Day, Kodomo no hi. Our Museum is a Child-Friendly Venue – we have an indoor Japanese playground for our youngest visitors. The Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology also operates a Japanese Language School – the only school in Poland with affiliation to the Japan Foundation – offering language courses at all levels, in addition to calligraphy, the tea ceremony and ikebana classes, special activities for children, and morning classes for senior citizens. There are numerous clubs and associations affiliated with the Museum, promoting various forms of Japanese culture: the tea ceremony, ikebana, bonsai, go and shogi. Since 2011, the Manggha Museum has held the collections forming the Andrzej Wajda Archives. We put a particular emphasis on our exhibitions of old and contemporary art (over 40 a year), which have been widely acknowledged and can be viewed not only at our gallery, but also in many cities across Poland and abroad. The Museum publishes books documenting its exhibitions and lectures and it provides well-researched information in a variety of fields such as culture, art, architecture, anthropology, etc. Our publications are compendia prepared by the best Polish and foreign (frequently Japanese) specialists. Every year, the Manggha Museum is visited by over 100,000 people.